Monday, 4 May 2009

Finally A Working Strategy For RCB

For the first time in this tournament the match involving the Royal Challengers Bangalore never witnessed a score of 0-1. A good news finally arrived for the fans of Royal Challengers Bangalore and Vijay Mallya in particular who invested whooping Rs 442 crore. The Royal Challengers Bangalore might have won matches in the series even before. But, this particular victory against the Kings XI Punjab would have given them more satisfaction and more confidence to go ahead with their heads high. For, it was not only a win against a formidable team in Kings XI Punjab but also a nerve testing one for the RCB which they overcame.

The very same Royal Challengers Bangalore had lost to the Kings XI Punjab just half a month ago when the Kings XI Punjab required 60 runs off the last five overs and they did it with ease losing just 3 wickets. And the situation was no different this time either. No one might have thought the Royal Challengers to bounce back so hard on the opposition in such quick time. One view shows that this time compared to the last one, the Kings XI Punjab had a bigger hand in snatching the match from the RCB after riing high over Yuvraj Singh's hattrick and then a quickfire 50 off 34 balls (4X6;3X4).

The win shows the sprit that the RCB have developed in them after a series of dismal performances prior to this match. Their earlier wins were a bit owing to some mistakes done by the opposition. But, this time that was not the case. A "Never Say Die" attitude was outright with their performance. A few strategies looked to work for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. One was the fact that they never sent in Uttappa to open the innings which was the case until this match. And Vijay Mallya might be now kicking himself for opting Kevin Pietersen as captain of his side after comparing his skills with that of Dravid's last year's performance.

Perhaps, Mallya's decision might have bacome more firm after the new and inevitable choice of Anil Kumble as captain started restoring the lost confidence for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. This I guess is the second victory for RCB in this series and the first one for Kumble. Had Kevin Pietersen been the captain, I bet this would not have been the case. One could have expected another loss at the hands of the Kings XI Punjab. Having Mark Boucher keep wickets meant another weapon in the RCB's armour. After Yuvraj Singh's exit, there was not even a single hit that cleared the stands, which showed they way the RCB were back in the hunt. After this match, the RCB can be considered to be one of the front runners for the semi final berth.

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